Create an OTL

Many years ago, each festive season could be pinpointed by a couple of factors. What was the Christmas number one that year? What classic festive movie was released? However, there has been a huge shift in recent years.

Thanks to the large investment, creativity and passion that has come from large-scale companies on their Christmas marketing, it’s these commercials that now earmark the festive season.

“Oh yes! That was the year of the snowman and snow wife!”

“Ahhh… Kevin the carrot was my favourite!”

And obviously not forgetting “Holidays are coming… Holidays are coming” being chanted throughout homes across the country once that famous truck has graced our screens.

TV and Radio advertising has long been a battle of the best airtime in an overcrowded market during the season of high spending. However, this gigantic shift now means businesses use comprehensive story lines, emotive messages and subliminal ways to get you to buy their products without even mentioning those specific products at all!

At ED Creative, we primarily work with clients in the radio industry, and whilst the creative-led sell is often a great way to get clients to advertise with the station, it’s not always the first port of call. Many clients focus on the frequency, the airtime, the OTH and the reach, which is of course incredibly important to get your message heard. But if you have the best OTH and prime time spots and place an average creative within it, it’s a completely wasted piece of marketing.

Your airtime provides you with an opportunity to hear. But with clever creative, we can create the opportunity to LISTEN.

Take heed from the likes of John Lewis. Whilst their budgets may far outweigh many of our own, they have created an anticipation around their Christmas creative that most people actually search for it and watch it online way before they even happen to catch it on the TV. This means John Lewis don’t necessarily have to fork out for the prime spots every day leading up to Christmas, as many of us have already done the digging to find it for ourselves.

If we focus on radio solely for the purpose of this blog post, it’s all about putting creative at the forefront of your advertising, and allowing the power of sound to capture your audience and craft their emotional response to ensure they come to YOU when they want your product.

Create commercials that evoke emotion.

Don’t focus too hard on those opportunities to hear and give your audience the opportunity to listen.

Your creative marketing can become synonymous in your industry.

And what could be a better Christmas gift than that?